Editorially Yours


Michele

Michele Pesula Kuegler is the founder of PeKu Publications and chief foodie at Think Tasty. She runs this one-woman show focusing on creating new recipes to delight her family, friends, and herself.


Meet the Specialist- Elizabeth Skipper

by Michele Pesula Kuegler on April 15th, 2013

Elizabeth+SkipperAmong our group of specialists, we have a chef who provides our readers with the culinary know-how that they are seeking on our food publication, Think Tasty.  From advice on making sauces to sharpening knives to using canned or fresh pumpkin, Elizabeth Skipper is a fabulous cooking resource.  Not only does she offer our readers a deeper understanding of the subject, she also shares recipes that will round out our readers’ repertoire.  Elizabeth has been enlightening our readers since December 2011.

Please allow me to introduce you to our own “Ask the Chef”, Elizabeth Skipper.

MPK: Our readers know you as “Ask the Chef,” who seemingly covers all things food. Do you have an area of cooking that you specialize in?

ES: My cooking is very much informed by my training, which was in French and European cookery, and by having lived in Switzerland for a couple of years when I was newly married. For example, given a steak, my first thoughts go to pan-grilling and making a red wine-shallot  or other pan sauce than firing up the grill or the broiler.

I also love Mexican food, although I don’t make as often as I did when I had a garden and more tomatoes and chiles than I knew what to do with. Bottom line, though, I believe in good food, well prepared. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should be well executed.

MPK: You have shared many recipes. Do you have a signature dish that friends and family request?

ES: It’s hard to pick  without narrowing it down to a category… but, okay, I’ll say my Pork & Tomatillo Stew. I renamed it “Marry Me Pork & Tomatillo Stew” after a gentleman proposed to me when he tasted it for the first time. After a pause, he followed that up with, “My wife might not like that,” but he’s not alone in loving that particular dish!

MPK: What do you like best about being a chef?

ES: I love, love, love making people happy with food! When you can do something well, that makes people light up and give you compliments, what’s not to love? It makes all the hours of being on your feet and the mountains of dirty dishes worth it (most of the time.)

MPK: You are the owner of The Everyday Epicure LLC. What encouraged you to offer cooking lessons and be a personal chef?

ES: Oh, as soon as I got out of cooking school I started teaching because I wanted to share what I’d learned; and I continue to feel that way. I decided to become a personal chef because working in a restaurant wasn’t appealing, and combining my cooking talents with my years of business experience and customer service seemed a perfect segue for my next career.

MPK: What fun fact would our readers be interested to learn about you?

ES: By “fun fact,” do you mean something that seems a bit out of character? It might come as a surprise to know that some years ago my daughter’s love of rock music re-ignited mine, and we attended a KISS concert where I allowed her to make me up as the Star Child. (She went as the Demon.) We got a lot of high fives! How often can a middle-aged mom and her fifteen-year old daughter be hailed in public with, “You guys look awesome!”?


Michele



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